TRUST me, Fordham basketball fans, it would be great to write today with news that good days at Rose Hill are rising from the ashes of the Bob Hill era. But as of this morning, some 72 hours after Fordham fired Hill, a buyout agreement had yet to be finalized and there were some nasty accusations being made.

According to one source, Fordham had offered Hill, who is due a $1 million buyout, $200,000. The source said Fordham’s leverage for the low-ball offer is that it has, for some time now, been keeping a file on Hill that documents what it considers gross negligence of his duties, like failing to be in the office enough.

Does Coach K have to sign in?

Fordham officials are treating their phones as if they were sneezed on by a tourist from Hong Kong. Hill’s agent, Todd Musburger, was on a plane bound for the West Coast, supposedly to conduct NFL Draft business.

The best information we can give you is a profile of whom Fordham should hire and at what price. We find it hard to put much stock in the caller who yesterday said that Fordham, burned by the 10-year, $2.5-million contract it gave Hill, was looking to give its next coach a three-year, $525,000 deal.

Fordham vice president Jeff Gray, the man behind athletic director Frank McLaughlin who ultimately will make the hire, is right to be skiddish about signing off on a long-term deal, but the length of the contract is more important than the dollars. Coming off a 2-26 season and with the best players looking to transfer, Fordham could hire John Wooden and he’d need at least three years to post a winning record.

The next coach should get a back-loaded seven-year deal. Anything less than five years and Fordham will be lucky to get a good high school coach to take the job. If the next coach is worried about squeezing in 18, he’s the wrong guy.

The coach has got to be someone who’s earned his stripes, not necessarily a college head coach, although that can’t be discounted. Fordham’s new coach has to want to spend time with every high school and AAU coach in the city. He has to want to take the subway downtown to Wall Street to meet some Fordham alums for dinner and then shoot uptown to attend a fund-raiser.

The head Ram has to believe in tough love, because he’ll be coaching mostly city kids. They won’t back down from hard work as long as they know you care. Call their moms, often. Call their professors.

Don’t whine about Fordham’s facilities. The Fordham job is about relationships. Bob Hill never grasped that. The new coach has to live by it.